Wednesday, February 15, 2012

StyleLikeU & Brooklyn Industries Fashion Week Parties

Brooklyn Industries'Crash Bash Fashion Week - Friday, 2/10/12

To celebrate the launch of its Spring 2012 collection based on J. G. Ballard's 1973 novel "Crash", Brooklyn Industries threw a cocktail party on Friday night at its Broadway store. The downstairs was turned into a disco with music by Los Angeles DJ SoSuperSam. Brooklyn Industries has 6 locations in Brooklyn, 5 in Manhattan and locations in Philadelphia, Chicago and Portland, OR. We posed with stylist and photographer Eugene Del Mundo on the first floor of the store.

Recognized by Con Edison as one of the city's "Green Power Pioneers", Brooklyn Industries powers its warehouse and 7 of its NY stores with 100% wind power and powers 3 of its stores by a combination of wind and hydro power. Laurie and Erin were our lovely hosts. Laurie, who works in public relations, stopped on the stairway for a photo with Valerie. We regret not having a shot of Erin to share.

The downstairs party featured signature Solstice cocktails which were made with gin, agave nectar, lemon juice, and pear puree. Delish! Unfortunately, we did not work our way back through the crowd to sample the doughnuts by Brooklyn-based Dough. We were told that the chocolate and the cafe latte were divine. Back on the main floor, Jean tried on one of the Sunshine bags for size.

Valerie took a liking to a tee shirt with the image of a telephone operator, back when switchboards, not iphones, were the order of the day.

This very stylish lady named Soull has an identical twin who is a designer. Imagine the possibilities.

Soull's wrist is covered with tattoos of musical notes. We loved her bracelets and ring.

Jonathan stopped at the top of the stairs for a photo op.

This young man carried a hard-to-miss bag that we just loved.

Another example of Brooklyn Industries' emphasis on self-sustainability was its gift bag choice of Red Rose & Lavender's self-contained paper white package. This Williamsburg-based florist provided a mason jar with pebbles to which you simply add water, position the paper white bulb and surround it with the thoughtfully supplied moss. All you have to do is let nature run its course.

StyleLikeU

Fans will remember that we were invited to show off our closets and talk about our dressing philosophy for StyleLikeU - the website and the book. For Fashion Week, StyleLikeU cannily held a big bash in the East Village .

Below, Jean and none other than Marja Samsom, the Dumpling Diva, outflank one of the chic partygoers.

Valeie says: You young 'uns with your iPods and iPhones and other iThings you stick in your ears and then turn the sound way up to listen to - take heed. If you get tinnitus, like I did, you will no longer enjoy VERY LOUD SOUNDS. You will flee from them the way animals flee from the first hint of the veterinarian. So while I was sorely tempted to attend this party (and judging from Jean's photos I missed a very good time), the very thought of contending with elevated eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees in my ears for the next three weeks was enough to make me see the wisdom of staying home. It looked like Jean would have to do the job of two people.

Jean says: Left to my own devices, I recruited Marja Samsom, dressed for success in her neon blue hat, to be my "wingman" for the evening.

Because snow was falling as everyone made their way to the East Houston Street venue, hats were the order of the day.

StyleLikeU's co-founder Lily Mandelbaum in pink turban with Mona Canino (left) and two friends posed for a photo before returning to the dance floor.

About Us

GROWING OLD WITH VERVE
‘Growing old gracefully’ is an outdated concept. We prefer ‘growing old with verve’. This blog documents our efforts to live up to that motto, in photos and essays. We embrace our gray hair, while sharing the playground nicely with our younger siblings. Bette Davis was right when she said 'growing old is not for sissies', but it’s also not one of Dante’s circles of hell. Idiosyncratic Fashionistas explores what’s out there for Women of a Certain Age, comments on what’s not out there, and demonstrates that our overlooked demographic is still fabulous.
AND see our long awaited and much ballyhooed public access tv debut, in which we model 12 great hats in 28 minutes:
http://www.blip.tv/file/3206182/
AND see us on StyleLikeU:
http://stylelikeu.com/closets/valerie-and-jean/#comments.
You can visit our complete weekly postings, dating back to August 2, 2009. We update VERY late every Sunday.
THE IDIOSYNCRATIC FASHIONISTAS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATIONS ON RETAIL FASHION PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. To paraphrase Freud, 'What do women of a certain age want?' We know! Ask us. Contact mono.crone@gmail.com.